Molina exits with knee injury

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

POSTGAME UPDATE: Molina told reporters after the game that he is flying back to St. Louis on Wednesday for an MRI. He’s also going to be placed on the DL, meaning he’s out for at least the next 15 days. A full story on the injury is up on cardinals.com and can be accessed by clicking on this link.

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Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina left the nightcap of Tuesday’s doubleheader in the fourth inning with a right knee sprain. He caught three innings of Tyler Lyons and took two at-bats before being replaced by Rob Johnson.

Molina’s knee has been giving him problems throughout July. He sat out three games before the All-Star break after being diagnosed with inflammation. A magnetic resonance imaging exam taken at the time revealed no structural damage in a knee that Molina has previously had surgically repaired.

Molina caught the team’s first 10 games out of the break before sitting in Game 1 on Tuesday. He had not complained of any further knee issues recently, but the Cardinals have kept three catchers on the roster since the initial setback so that they would be protected in case discomfort resurfaced.

Molina looked to be bothered particularly in the second inning on Tuesday when he didn’t make a throw on a runner stealing second and then allowed a passed ball.

Losing Molina for any substantial period of time would be costly to the Cardinals, who have a pitching staff that has thrived under his guidance and an offense keyed by his middle-of-the-order bat. Molina entered the day ranked second in the National League with a .331 batting average and third with 30 doubles. No catcher in the Majors has caught more innings than Molina this year, and he has a catcher’s ERA of 3.27.

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